Making Progress

Progress is being made at the ranch. A new floor was installed in the community room and the spare bedroom. The carpet had to be removed due to urine stains and odor in those two rooms. One of the uses I planned for the community room is a library. Now that the floor is in I am setting up bookcases and filling them up with lots of books I have collected over the years. Also, the desk I purchased last month has been delivered and I have been slowly unpacking boxes and getting organized.

Now that the carpet has been removed, the spare bedroom is available. At the moment the room is empty but once God brings the right person to live in it furniture will be obtained, if needed.

Outside I have been very busy too. I spend a couple hours every morning on one or more different projects. The project I have been devoting most of my time to lately is the garden. In order to put a garden in I first have to remove as many rocks as possible from the area. I have been digging down 4 to 6 inches removing dirt, rocks, and occasionally other debris. This garden bed will be about 2 yards by 3 yards and will be a raised bed, since rocks are everywhere. I have removed thousands, possibly even a million rocks from this one small area.

This land is covered in rocks and is layered with rocks. With all the rocks available it makes since to use them for multiple purposes and God has given me lots of ideas.

One idea is to use the rocks to build stone buildings. The first building I envision is a bathroom/shower/laundry facility for folks living in campers or out of their cars. By building such a building I can provide the necessary facilities quickly for people to start living here. Eventually I hope to build some stone cottages, but a multipurpose room such as what is available at camp grounds will at least provide facilities for folks who are in need now. Until a multipurpose building is built, the main house is always available.

I also have many other ideas for ways to use these rocks, all of which in the long run will save money. Instead of buying lumber or other supplies we can just use the free rocks. But there is no way a single person can accomplish all that needs to be done. Volunteers are a must. Volunteers are needed for both outside jobs (building, gardening, etc.) and inside jobs (web site design, bookkeeping, cleaning, etc.).

If you have any interest in relocating to The Ranch, please let me know. I fully understand that each person with MCS and related diseases has different needs. When I was ill I was exhausted all the time and basically bedridden. On the other hand, a friend found physical work (including sweating) actually made her feel better. If you are someone who at the present time cannot imagine even volunteering one hour a day, do not let that stop you from inquiring about coming to the Ranch.

Finally, on September 7 tropical storm Hermine passed right over San Antonio, TX and then the Hill Country, causing flooding and lots of damage. Some areas received a foot of rain. Here at The Ranch the rain gauge recorded ¾ of an inch of rain. If it was not for satellite technology I would never have known Texas was being bombarded by a tropical storm.